National Instruments PCI-7330 Motion Controller

The National Instruments PCI-7330 (Part Numbers: 778924-02 and 778417-01) is a PCI based Stepper Motion Controller. This model offers fully programmable controlling for up to four coordinated or independent axes of motion. Moreover, it can also provide dedicated motional I/O for home and limit switches and various other general purpose I/O functions. It has 8 single-ended multiplexed inputs with a resolution of 12 bits, 4 outputs, 4 digital I/O ports (8-bit), and 2 PWM outputs (with a frequency of 50 kHz and a resolution of 8 bits). This Motion Controller is a viable solution for straight line vector moves, as well as for applications involving point-to-point moves. With the NI PCI 7330, the user can achieve complex and arbitrary motion trajectories by utilizing stepper motors.

This Stepper Motion Controller comes with an integrated, dual-processor architecture consisting of a 32-bit central processing unit, custom FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays), and DSP. The FIFO (first-in, first-out) bus interface incorporated in this module offers efficient communications, while transmitting complicated motion trajectories to ensure optimum system performance and command throughput.

Stepper axes can be operated in either open-loop or closed-loop mode. In the closed-loop mode of operation, the stepper axes utilize analog inputs or quadrature encoders for velocity and position feedback and provide clockwise/counter-clockwise digital command outputs. Each axis of the National Instruments PCI-7330 has various motion I/O, including: encoder feedback, a home switch input, end-of-travel limit, etc. All signals are contained by the motion I/O connector of the device. Moreover, this Controller also has four analog inputs and one 32 bit digital I/O. The analog inputs provided on this controller can be used for joystick inputs, ±10 V signals, as well as for the monitoring of analog sensors. The device is equipped with 2 68-pin female high-density VHDCI connectors–one for motion I/O connections and the other for the 32-bit digital I/O connection. It has a power consumption value of 5.7 W.

The PCI-7330 can be programmed using a variety of software packages such as NI-Motion, LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, or Microsoft Visual Basic. The NI device weighs 0.25 lb, and measures 6.9 x 3.9 in. in physical dimensions.